Bramley Buffaloes “A” v Batley Boys “A”
With the first team travelling to King Cross, Bramley had a young but enthusiastic squad taking on a Batley Boys side containing some of their experienced first-teamers after their first team match had been called off.
With three minutes gone and following a Bramley knock-on, Batley took the lead through a try by James and conversion by Tomlinson. However, within minutes, Bramley were level after Bobby Brown finished off a good move by diving over near the corner, followed by a superb conversion from Tom Jenkins to level the scores. Despite the dry conditions, both team’s struggled to keep possession for complete sets and only a break by Batley, which saw Clark racing over to break the deadlock. Tomlinson added the conversion to give Batley a 12-6 interval lead.
The second half started with both sides not giving an inch until the 50th minute when James scored his second try of the afternoon to put the visitors 16-6 in front. The following five minutes were a disaster for the Buffaloes as from the next set after kick-off, Batley’s Ridley sliced through the defence and with Tomlinson adding the goal, Batley Boys extended the lead to 22-6. Spectators thought they were seeing a big-screen replay as Batley scored again without Bramley touching the ball apart from kicking off to restart the match as James completed his hat-trick of tries to make it 26-6 to the visitors after 55 minutes.
Confidence was now soaring within the Batley Boys team, and their larger and much more experienced pack continued to try and blast through the Buffaloes defence. The home side did well to restrict Batley to just one more try in the final quarter as Ridley went over for h
is second try of the game to complete the scoring and a 30-6 victory.
The Buffaloes “A” team coach and players can be proud of their efforts and with steadier handling would have taken the Boys from Batley a lot closer, a game of a young and enthusiastic team losing to a bigger and more experienced side. A lot of positives and a bright future for these young Buffaloes.
Buffaloes: 1) JD Wilson, 2) Robert Brown, 3) Sean Beesting, 4) Liam Lether, 5) Jonah Stansfield, 6) Kacper Mroz, 7) Samuel Worley, 8) Lee Harper, 9) Tony Morrison, 10) Callum Greaves, 11) Andrew Boot, 12) Jacob Oldroyd, 13) Thomas Jenkins, Subs (All Used); 14) Matthew Tyldsley, 15) Henry Sedgwick, 16) Ben Blanchard, 17) Liam Barnsley, 18) Oliver Greaves, 19) Garry Butterfield, 20) Joe Sykes
Tries: Brown
Goals: Jenkins
Photos by Paul Abrham